Talking with EW last month, Maggie Siff teased that Tara, who was led away in handcuffs in the season finale, had some fight left in her. “I think where Tara and Jax [Charlie Hunnam] end last season, there’s just a lot of betrayal. The door that was open to her in terms of having an exit strategy is now closed. So what I’m excited about is where she goes from there, because she does not admit defeat,” Siff said. “Her feelings of needing to protect her family are stronger than ever, and yet she is more hemmed in than ever. I think what you end up seeing in season 6 is somebody who is craftier and using her wiles a little bit more, and kind of playing by the rules of that world, which are shadier, more complicated, and a little bit more violent. Her goal – what she wants for herself and what she wants for kids – is completely the opposite of the values of that world, of the values of Gemma.

She also hinted that we’ll be seeing Jax make more questionable moves. “I think last season you saw Jax becoming somebody who people feel pretty ambiguous about. He is sliding more toward who Clay [Ron Perlman] has been, and his violent nature has blossomed. The thing that’s so great about Charlie in the part is that no matter what Jax does, there’s this kind of fundamental sweetness and goodness that people sense and root for. But we’re meant to be a little bit upset with him and horrified by some of the turns that he takes,” she said. “The death of Opie [Ryan Hurst] really sent him on a dark path. I think that’s gonna continue for a while. He’s no angel. And one of the things that I’ve appreciated about the way Kurt has written their relationship is that he never wanted Tara to be a Carmela Soprano. He’s wanted her to have these moments of really seeing him and reckoning with it.”

Creator Kurt Sutter, meanwhile, has stated that season 6 will be the most violent one yet. “None of us feel safe. Everybody on this show is like, Oh god,” Siff said, laughing. “What’s gonna happen? He’s definitely not afraid to have terrible things happen to the people who are involved in the club. That’s one of the consequences of the life, and I think he’s really trying to pull the curtain back on that. I think we all feel like we’re in the homestretch of this series [which Kurt anticipates lasting seven seasons]. It’s gonna be drawn-out and bloody, but we’re all ready for however that plays out.”